Mucus production cold virus

Mucus is made of mostly water, which gives it its liquid texture. But it also contains proteins and salt. Sugar-containing proteins or glycoproteins specifically, called mucins, give mucus its gelatinous consistency.

Discarded infection-fighting white blood cells plus other debris picked up in the nasal passageways often catch a ride in the mucus too.

Also, fun fact: Boogers are just dried up mucus mixed with other particles like dirt, dust, and pollen. Your body is a mucus-making machine.

Special cells and glands found in the thin lining called the mucosa or mucous membrane of body cavities and passageways leading out of the body regularly produce the slippery stuff. You probably already know that mucus-secreting tissue can be found in the nose, mouth, throat, and lungs.

It keeps nasal passages and lungs well moisturized. When a cold virus enters your nose, mucus production goes into overdrive, Dr. Welch explains. It prevents those irritants from burrowing deeper into the lungs. Then, the tiny hairs in the respiratory tract called cilia help to sweep up the infected mucus like little brooms, says Dr. Elliott, so we can cough or blow it out. But it can also be thin and runny. Vincent Horiuchi public relations associate, College of Engineering vincent.

Accessibility Menu. Accessibility Help. Download Full-Res Image. Instead of flushing out germs, mucus traps bacteria and other germs in people with CF, increasing their risk for lung infections.

Although CF is commonly thought about as a lung disease, it has an impact on mucus throughout the body. Mucus build-up in the pancreas causes the body to not release enough digestive enzymes, causing nutrient deficiencies.

Mucus in the liver can contribute to liver disease. Because of this, the treatment of CF includes medications that are meant to thin mucus. During cold season, the mucus in your respiratory tract might be the most common, since it can indicate you're fighting a virus. However, mucus plays a role throughout the body, during times of sickness and health.

Healthy people produce mucus in their large intestines. Part of the purpose of this fluid is to help your body process stool. Because of that, you might notice mucus in your stool when you poop. Normally, this isn't a cause for concern. However, if you suddenly notice a change in the amount of mucus in your stool, or notice that there's blood in your stool as well, you should speak to your healthcare provider.

Those changes could indicate an underlying condition like irritable bowel syndrome or ulcerative colitis , a condition that affects the mucus membrane of the intestine.

Women also produce vaginal mucus. This is produced by the cervix. The amount and consistency of vaginal mucus changes throughout a woman's menstrual cycle. Monitoring the changes in vaginal mucus can help women identify when they are ovulating. Right around ovulation cervical mucus is plentiful and often has a slippery consistency like raw egg whites. This type of mucus is meant to help sperm to reach the egg. Having sex—or avoiding it—when this type of vaginal mucus is present can help increase or reduce the chances of pregnancy.

As women's cycles become more irregular with age, their amount of vaginal mucus can change as well. It helps keep you healthy and, when that fails, can help you overcome sicknesses. But it can also lead to a lot of discomfort when you have too much of it. Remember that while mucus helps keep you healthy, it can make others sick.

By doing that, you can help keep your mucus to yourself and minimize the risk of spreading illness to the people around you. Influenza virus IV , belonging to the Orthomyxoviridae family, is responsible for the flu season each year and can cause severe respiratory infections. Clinical studies showed that IV infections cause respiratory symptoms such as productive cough, increased nasal discharge, and sputum 12 , According to a series of autopsies performed in , the trachea and bronchi of the patients are invaded, and the mucosal surface is obviously red and swollen, sometimes covered with mucous gel material, and there are also edema and hyperemia of the submucosa Both H7N9 and H1N1 patients appeared yellow sputum symptoms In addition, airway mucus viscosity of influenza A virus-infected patients is significantly higher than that of normal saline The changes in mucus properties are related to the increased mucin expression during IV infection 68 , 69 , The family of Toll-like receptors TLRs , expressed on dendritic cells and macrophages, serves as key pattern recognition receptors PRRs of innate immune system and promotes production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines as well as expression of mucin genes.

Shi et al. Mata et al. Besides, Barbier et al. These results indicated involvement of multiple signal pathways in IV-induced airway mucus alterations. Respiratory syncytial virus RSV , belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family, is the main cause of bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia, as well as worsening asthma in children.

The main susceptible population of RSV is infants less than 6 months. Compared with adults, the innate immune system of infants is immature, explained by a partial defection of mucosal innate responses lack of TLRs, type I and type III interferons.

During RSV infection, the quantity and viscosity of mucus both increase, and severe obstruction of the airway lumen occurs mixed with cellular debris and fibrin Lee et al. In histopathological studies of RSV-infected children, mucus secretion is enhanced, with thick plugs composed of cell debris, strands of fibrin, and a material with the DNA staining properties in the bronchiolar lumina Besides, studies showed that RSV infection destroyed cilia cells induced mucus hypersecretion and goblet cell hyperplasia, as well as stimulated MUC5AC expression 19 , Studies showed that the increased production of IL, as well as Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL correlated with the increased mucus gene expression and goblet cell hyperplasia during RSV infection 36 , Besides, Jing et al.

As the EGFR pathway plays an important role in IV-induced mucin overexpression as well, we speculate that it may be a common pathway underlying virus-induced mucus hypersecretion. Human RV, belonging to the Picornaviridae family, is the major cause of common cold. People of all ages are generally susceptible to RV. Increased mucus secretion and cell debris are found in the bronchioles of RV-infected infants, leading to mechanical airway obstruction In the lower respiratory tract, patients with RV infection showed remarkable elevation of total cells, leukocytes, and neutrophils in sputum Given the similarities in pathogenicity between RSV and RV, some common mechanisms of the virus-induced mucus hypersecretion can be found.

Zhu et al. It appears that RSV and RV infections in young children stimulate inflammation with Th2 cell characteristics, leading to abnormal mucus production. Liu et al. Also, Han et al. PIV, a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the paramyxovirus family, is the cause of seasonal lower respiratory infections in infants, children, and immunocompromised people. The most common clinical presentations of PIV infection are cough, sputum production, and rhinorrhea 23 , 24 , In addition, there was a typical nasal discharge that often became mucopurulent and lasted for 1—2 weeks The data are limited and clarification of the mechanism of PIV-induced mucus hypersecretion requires more investigation.

Children infected with hMPV most commonly exhibited upper respiratory symptoms such as cough, rhinorrhea, and sputum 26 , Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid BAL samples from hMPV-infected children showed epithelial cell degeneration or necrosis with detached ciliary tufts and round red cytoplasmic inclusions, neutrophils, and mucus Pathological examination in hMPV-infected cynomolgus macaques demonstrated suppurative rhinitis, and a few sloughed ciliated epithelial cells, cell debris, and mucus in bronchial lumen Though the data on the mechanisms of hMPV-induced mucus hypersecretion are limited, the similarities in clinical presentation between hMPV-infected infants and RSV-infected infants may suggest some potential common mechanisms.

Coronavirus can trigger severe alveolar damage and the most typical pathological finding in the advanced stage of SARS is diffuse alveolar damage, accompanied by extensive fibrin exudation, edema, and inflammatory infiltration At the same time, mucopurulent material was detected in the upper respiratory tract bronchus Whether these cytokines also play a role in SARS-CoV-induced airway mucus hypersecretion remains uncertain and awaits further investigation.

Also, mucus retention was observed in the bronchioles of COVID patients, and white to gray sputum with high viscosity was aspirated from the respiratory tract According to the autopsy report of a COVID patient, plenty of gray-white highly viscous exudates were seen in the lungs overflowing from the alveoli IFN signals are the first-line signals that are responsible for initiating the rapid antiviral response as well as presenting the antigen to adaptive immune cells upon viral invasion.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells are the main source of type-I IFN. Giovannoni et al. AhR antagonists improve lung pathology by enhancing antiviral immunity, as well as inhibiting excessive mucus production Therefore, blocking IFN signaling and AhR activity may be a potential strategy to reduce virus-induced airway mucus production and accumulation.

Busse et al. Feldmann et al. In addition, Kyriazopoulou et al. Also, Zhang et al.